NSU examines appropriate criteria concerning enrollment, retention rates, graduation rates, completers, licensure, and placement rates to document successful student achievement.  These criteria are representative of a student’s time at Northwestern State University.

The interactive charts below summarize student achievement data representing the criteria of Enrollment, Retention, Graduation and Completers.  Information on licensure and placement rates is presented as well.

The number of students enrolled in the Fall at NSU is established at a specific “census date”, which occurs approximately 14 class days after the beginning of full term.  Figures includes all instructional sites and all terms enrolled at census date, even if the enrolled term has not yet begun.  Enrollment figures do not include leisure or other non-credit programs.

NSU establishes Freshman cohorts each Fall.  These cohorts consist of students who are attending college for the first time, are enrolled for at least 12 semester hours, and are pursuing a bachelor’s degree.  The retention rate is calculated based on the number of these students who enroll in the following Fall in relation to the original cohort population.

NSU establishes Freshman cohorts each Fall.  These cohorts consist of students who are attending college for the first time, are enrolled for at least 12 semester hours, and are pursuing a bachelor’s degree.  The retention rate is calculated based on the number of these students who enroll in the third Fall in relation to the original cohort population.

A completer is a student who receives a degree, diploma, certificate, or other recognized post-secondary credential.  Students are only counted once per award level.

NSU anticipates that students who are part of a Fall cohort will complete a bachelor’s degree within 4 to 6 years of entering the cohort.   Graduation Rate measures the percentage of students in a cohort who graduate within 6 years (150% of the designed time for a bachelor’s degree).

Additionally, Northwestern uses the SACSCOC Graduation Rate as its Key Student Completion Indicator. The metric, though similar to the IPEDS Graduation Rate above, incorporates both Associate-seeking and Bachelor-seeking cohorts as reported on the SACSCOC Annual Enrollment worksheet.  (This worksheet is based on the most recent data reported to IPEDS.)

Specifically, SACSCOC’s definition states: “The purpose of the Graduation Rate is to track the cohorts of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates, as well as their completion status at 150% of normal time.”

To better prepare students for professional career opportunities, NSU faculty take into consideration the knowledge, skills, attributes, and attitudes of established professions and incorporate professional competencies, national and state licensure standards, and certification requirements into relevant coursework.  Licensure, certification, and passage rates for licensure exams are criteria used by the University to document student achievement.

The First Destination Survey is distributed to all graduation candidates for the August, December, and May graduation cohorts in each academic year.  Relevant information concerning the graduates’ postgraduation career activities may come directly from the graduates via the Survey or may be provided by employers, online profiles, etc.  NSU makes a good faith effort to verify the information obtained by any source other than the graduate.